Generational Issues: Workforce Management and Employment Practices

Abstract

An ad hoc committee, appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, will carry out a review of the business management and the behavioral science literature on generational attitudes and behaviors in workforce management and employment practices. This consensus study will assess the theoretical approaches and empirical science on generational differences as espoused in the popular literature, to include both an assessment of the research and statistical methods employed as well as conclusions drawn given the nature of the data analyzed. It will examine the conceptual basis for generations generally, as well as the specific generational definitions used in the management and behavioral science literature. In addition, it will also consider, in light of its findings, whether to recommend to organizations any changes to workforce management and employment practices. In conducting its work, the committee will hold two public workshops in 2019 and issue a final consensus report Summer 2020 with its findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Specifically, the ad hoc committee has been tasked to gather, review, and discuss the business management and the behavioral science literature on generational attitudes and behaviors in workforce management and employment practices. The committee will: 1. Evaluate theory, data and statistical methods used in order to make determinations on the rigor of the empirical work in this literature. 2. Assess whether generational categories (e.g., Òboomers,Ó ÒmillennialsÓ) are meaningful distinctions vis a vis the workforce and its practices. Included issues will be: recruitment, selection, assignment, training, learning, performance management, length of tenure in a job, and retention. 3. Provide conclusions and recommendations in terms of proposing a possible science agenda and/or changes that are warranted to better recruit and retain the best employees.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Dec 04, 2019
Source ID
W911NF1910012

Entities

People

  • Barbara Wanchisen

Organizations

  • Army Contracting Command
  • National Academy of Sciences
  • United States Army

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Business

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).
  • Organizational Psychology.